Saturday, August 8, 2009

Hello everyone, hope you all are doing great and enjoying summertime! I was asked by a few people if I could do a tutorial about how I color my images using Copic markers. This is going to be the first tutorial, a very general one. Over time I'll like to post Copic tutorials on how I color specific parts of an image like hair, cloth, skin, etc.I would also like to mention that I am not "Copic certified" and this is just my way of coloring my images using Copic markers. I tried different techniques and papers and this is just what works best for me!

Ink: I always use Memento Ink for stamping my images when coloring with copics. This is a fade resistent, fast drying, dye ink with even ink coverage and save to use with your Copics. Summer has this ink in her store, click here.Paper: If it comes to paper I don't accept any compromises anymore. *lol* ;-)I tried a lot off different papers. Cheap papers and expensive ones but the only paper I use for coloring with Copics is from Arjo Wiggins, Curious Iridescent - Cryogen White. This is in my opinion the very best paper to use, the colors are blending so easily and even little mistakes are much easier to remove. And it has an incredibly elegant shimmer to it. But as I said before, just MHO and everyone has different preferences.

These are the products (as you can see on the above picture) used for my tutorial:

I start coloring the leaves and stems using the colors 0 (Blender Pen) - YG11 - YG13 - YG17Always choose colors that are not too far apart and best from the same color family.

First you have to decide where your light is coming from. In my case the light is coming from the upper right corner. I start with my darkest color first (YG17) and color that part of the leaves and stems where the most shadows/darkest parts will be. I never use pressure when coloring with my copics.

Then I move on to the next lighter color, here YG 13.

Tip: Don't worry if you color a little over the lines you can easily remove this with your blender pen. Just take your broad side of the blender pen and kind of push the color back towards the image. Do this without using too much pressure. Some colors are removed easily and for some colors you will have to repeat this procedure (e.g.the reds are kind of persistent).If you can't get it fixed right away, wait in between your attempts and let it dry a little so you wont do damage to your paper.

Now you are ready for your lightest color YG11. Do not touch the area you want to be the lightest part of the leaves with any color yet! Same here: blend the third color in nicely. With your lightest color you can also go over all the already colored areas on the leaves to get it even more blended. But not too much over your darkest areas as it will lift the color.

After all colors are blended nicely take your lightest color YG11 and your blender pen. With your blender pen touch the tip of the YG11 pen (see picture) And now with light feathery strokes apply the color (from your blender pen) starting at the edge of the colored area moving towards the white area. On and off touching the YG11 pen with your blender tip to get more color (if needed). You only want just a very little color on the lightest part and very soft and smooth edges. Be careful not to touch your already colored area too often with the blender pen as it removes the color kind of quickly sometimes! In the same way do the rest of the stems!

Now on to the cherries. For coloring the cherries I use R83, R85, R89 and the blender pen (my favorite tool ;-) )

As with the leaves I start laying down my darkest color, R89, first. Not too much just in the areas I wanted the cherries to be darkest. Always remember where your light source is coming from.

Now apply your next lighter color, in my case R85.

Blend it in nicely again.

Now it's time for the lightest color (R83), lay it down and blend, as before!Remember leaving the part you want to be lightest on your cherries untouched!

In the same way we applied the color with the blender pen and lightest Copic color on the leaves (using light feathery strokes) do it now with the cherries. In this case R83 was used.

And voila! We've finished coloring our cherries! :-)

I hope you liked my tutorial. As I said before this is just my way of coloring with the Copics and the techniques that work best for me. And if you are new to copics don't give up too fast. Coloring with copics means practice, practice practice! Once you got the hang of it you will LOVE them!

So get out your Copics and start coloring! :-)

Please feel free to email me at cocoacrafts@gmail.com if you have any questions regarding my tutorial!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

This week we have the challenge at RoP to make a folder card. There are many ways to do one, but I want to share how I made my DT folder card for you. I got the inspiration when I first started with cardmaking (fall 2006) from the very talented Camilla in Norway.

Step 1:

Take your cardstock and cut it at 5 1/2" (14 cm)

Step 2:

Score the cardstock at 3 15/16" (10 cm)

Step 3:

Score the cardstock and 9 7/16" (24 cm)

Step 4:

Fold along the score lines.

Step 5:

Cut two stripes of the cardstock -

measure 2 2,5/16" x 2 3/4" (5.5 cm x 7 cm)

Step 6:

Score the stripes at 6.5/16" (1 cm) and then fold

each piece like an accordion

Step 7Add sticky tape to each side of the "accordion" and attach to

the shorter end of the card

Step 8

Attach both "accordion" pieces to the cardstock

Step 9The folder should look like this after the "accordion" pieces have been attached.Step 10

Add your different layers of DPs your main image, blings, ribbon, flowers etc. It's only your imagination that sets the limit. You could also decorate the inside of the folder with matching DP as well.

Final result

Here's what my final folder card looks like.

Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Also - please check out the rest of the DTs interpretations of a folder card. There are so many ways to make one - and this is only one way.

Wish you a wonderful week and I hope to see many of your lovely folder cards in our RoP challenge.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Welcome all to the brand new blog of theRoses on Paper Design Team!This is going to be a tutorial and project blog to inspire you what you can do with your rubber stamps and all those wonderful products available in Summer's store Roses on Paper.It's all about thinking out of the box and being creative.Come and join us on our creative journey!

Ok to start this off I made a tutorial about decoratinga candle using stamped images.

Some tips:White or cream candles are best and also a good quality candle makes working in this technique much easier.I prefer to use colored pencils and gamsol with this technique. But you can also use e.g. distress inks, markers, etc.Sample for embellishments you can use: stickles glitter glue, adhesive pearls, dew drops, primaflowers, brads, ribbon, etc.

First choose your stamp (make sure it will fit on the candle!) and stamp your image on the tissue paper.I used table top flowers from the Alota Easter collection available at Roses on Paper.And as I only would like to use the vase with the flowersI didn't ink my whole stamp.

Now get started and color your image!

Cut out as close as you can to your image without damaging it. Don't worry about any "left over" tissue, this will totally dissapear when put on the candle and heated.

If you like to put on a sentiment, some decorative swirls etc. stamp and color in the same way.I decided to put a sentiment and both sides of the candle.The sentiment I chose is also from theAlota Easter collection.

Now arrange your images on the candle as you would like them to be. Don't forget to unwrap your candle! To make it easier for the tissue to stick to the candle I'm using a glue stick for help. Just a little so the images won't fall of.

In the next step you wrap your wax paper around the candle and make sure the images laying flat without any wrinkles. Cut your wax paper long enough so can use the excess on the back as handle to hold it really tight whilst heating! When heating make sure you have enough distance between the tool and the candle so the candle won't melt and ruin your project. Another tip is keep the tool in motion rather than only on one spot. The image will get real shiny and the colors will look more vibrant through the wax paper when it is done and fully submerged under a fine layer of wax. The edges of the tissue paper will fully dissapear in the wax.

This is what your candle looks like after all the images are heated and covered in a fine layer of wax.

The final step will be adding some finishing touches and your embellishments if desired. If you like to use brads for decoration it is very easy to push them into the candle as long as it is still warm from heating.

This is how my finished project looks like and also 2 more samples done in the same technique.

I hope you liked the tutorial and I could inspire you a little to try this wonderful technique!Don't forget to check out Summers store for all your stamping needs.

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Welcome to the Roses on Paper Project and Tutorial Blog! On this blog the ROP Design Team will be posting monthly projects as well as tutorials for special techniques. Come and join us on our project and tutorial journey.

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